Published: Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 3:15 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 11:38 a.m.

Editor's note: Arts and entertainment writer Dan Armonaitis recently spent a few days in Nashville, Tenn. This is the third in a series of stories about people from the Spartanburg area who are having an impact in the Music City.

NASHVILLE, TENN. – On a recent Wednesday night, Spartanburg native Amanda Page Cornett was on a small stage at the Commodore Grille, a restaurant and bar in a Holiday Inn next to Vanderbilt University.

The intimate venue sometimes hosts open mics, but, on this occasion, Cornett was performing as an invited guest for a songwriters' night that was headlined by a handful of veteran tunesmiths whose songs have been recorded by some of the biggest names in the music business.

Just moments after Cornett had finished performing alongside two other aspiring singer-songwriters, the evening's musical heavyweights took the stage.

Being around such talented individuals has become routine for Cornett, who has been involved in Nashville's songwriting community ever since moving to the Music City eight years ago.

“To hear people like Jim Parker and Lisa Carver and all those guys, who are amazing, it is an inspiration for me to push myself and to dig deeper when I'm writing,” Cornett said.

And it was through songwriters' nights such as this one that Cornett learned to broaden her own musical vision. Suddenly, she wasn't just writing pop-tinged, modern country songs.

“When I moved here, I was not fully aware of the different genres here, and I'm so glad it's like that because I've been going more on the rock side lately than the country side,” Cornett said. “… It really is ‘Music City,' not just ‘Country Music City.' ”

Cornett's final selection at the Commodore Grille on this evening, for instance, was a scorching, soul-laced rocker in the tradition of Bonnie Raitt. Cornett belted out “Morphine,” while the song's co-writer, Ken Buono, accompanied her on electric guitar.

“I try to put emotion into everything I do,” Cornett said. “I may not be the best singer in the world, but if I can get people to feel what I'm singing, that's what it's about.”

Cornett said one of the most rewarding experiences she's had as a songwriter occurred not too long ago when a woman contacted her about a song she'd written called “Soldier's Girl.”

“She said that her brother-in-law just got killed in Afghanistan, and she asked if she could use the song for his funeral,” Cornett said. “That is the most humbling compliment anybody could ever give me as a songwriter — to say ‘I want to use your song for the funeral of somebody who just died for our country.'

“… When that happened, the first person I called was my mom. I told her the story, and she was like, ‘I just got chills.' And I told her, ‘Mom, that is why I do this. That is why I'm here.' ”

A graduate of Dorman High School, Cornett earned a degree in sports medicine from the University of Florida before moving to Nashville. She still works as a personal fitness trainer, but music is what she loves to do most.

Cornett can be seen singing her song “He's Lookin' Better” in the 2010 film “Junkyard Dog,” starring Vivica A. Fox, and she's appeared in music videos for such country superstars as Kip Moore, Brooks & Dunn and Gretchen Wilson.

Cornett said she has been singing for as long as she can remember and that she began writing songs when she was 9 years old.

But it wasn't until she started taking guitar lessons from Joe Bennett, of Sparkletones fame, that she became serious about songwriting.

“I got a guitar when I was 13 or 14,” Cornett said. “Actually, it's the same one I'm still playing because I can't afford to buy another one.”

Bennett taught Cornett the basics of rhythmic guitar playing, but it was his gentle songwriting advice that had the biggest impact on her.

“I remember he asked me, ‘When do you write?' ” Cornett said. “And I answered, ‘Oh, whenever something comes to me.' Then, he said, ‘I want to challenge you. I want you to make your songwriting talent a skill.' ”

Cornett said Bennett gave her a song title, “When Love Kicks In,” and asked her to write words for it, setting a deadline of the next week's guitar lesson. She surprised him by fulfilling the assignment.

“What was great about it is that he was the first person to really tell me, ‘Hey, you need to actually work at this if you want to be good,' ” Cornett said.

Cornett takes pride in having been raised in Spartanburg, especially considering the city's rich musical heritage. She said that “one of the coolest” moments of her music career was getting to sing “Can't You See” with the Marshall Tucker Band a few years ago in Nashville.

Oddly enough, she met Daniels while standing in a line for concessions at a Tennessee Titans football game.

“He's one of the few people I've ever been star-struck by,” Cornett said. “I was like, ‘Mr. Daniels, I'm a big fan of yours, and I really appreciate everything you do for the troops.' And then I told him that I grew up with all the Marshall Tucker Band's kids in Spartanburg.

“And he looked at me and said, ‘I used to live in Spartanburg, down off Pine Street.' ”

At the time, Cornett was unaware that Daniels had attended junior high school in Spartanburg.

“Here's my musical idol, and for him to tell me that he lived in Spartanburg, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, how cool is that?' He is the nicest man in the world.”

As Cornett continues to pursue a full-time music career, she has a couple of goals in mind.

“The ideal scenario, on a low scale, would be making a living just off music — playing, writing, having other people cut my songs and things like that,” Cornett said. “But, of course, on a larger scale, there's always the dream of being a Top 40 or Top 10 artist and getting to tour internationally.”

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